Tor Listens To Authors And Readers And Ditches DRM
from the ears-wide-open dept
We have said quite a bit about the perils of DRM and how many in the entertainment industry still insist on its use despite the fact that it is pointless as a deterrent to piracy and only leads to frustration for paying customers. Recently, we spoke about how DRM is bad for book publishers and that their insistent use of DRM was part of the reason they ended up in the DOJ's sights. Fortunately, it looks like some publishers are learning from these follies. Tor has just announced that it and all its sister companies' books will be DRM free by July of this year.Our authors and readers have been asking for this for a long time. They’re a technically sophisticated bunch, and DRM is a constant annoyance to them. It prevents them from using legitimately-purchased e-books in perfectly legal ways, like moving them from one kind of e-reader to another.This is an exciting move for anyone concerned about the future of ebooks. That ability for readers to transfer their books from one device to another will help as technology advances and becomes far better. It is also excellent to hear that not only are readers voicing their dislike of DRM, but authors as well. That is what is really great about this. It often seems like publishers care little about the opinions of authors when it comes to these types of decisions. This news shows that some publishers are listening. Let's hope that other publishers learn from Tor's example and begin to listen as well.
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They also have audio books.
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Yes, it has been for a few years. Isn't this a good reason to offer customers what they want instead of trying to restrict them, lock them down and sell them files that are less valuable than the pirated copies?
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In fact, most authors spend a fair amount of time in the public library. This helps them with inspiration and learning the best and worst ways to utilize language. Those authors that are not well read usually make this fact painfully obvious.
After such a long history of this kind of openness, the harsh restrictions of DRM really were an anomaly in this field.
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Funny...
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Sales Killer
Everybody knows that DRM kills your ability to just handle the content like any other file. Publishers seem to be so deluded that they think they can just slip in DRM without anybody noticing. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
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Not better marketing - simply established distribution channels.
Eventually this will dissipate because it is no longer necessary.
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It seems that in a lot of cases an author's estate is a lot more copyright-crazy than the author ever was.
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That's understandable, if wrong. They're making their living off of something their dead relative once did, and they'd have to work if it weren't for copyright. I can understand why they'd fight tooth and nail to keep the money rolling in the same as it did when the person who actually did the work was alive...
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Secondly she's not doing this for the money the books being wrote current were already planned out ahead of time and Jordan was working on them before he died and had already drew out the outline for all three of the books being done by the new author Brandon Sanderson.
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If you notice my original post split the comment about estates into a separate paragraph. I meant it as a general comment, not applying to the WOT series. My apologies for not being clearer. I was typing on my phone which is not friendly to fat fingers, and I was keeping my comment brief. Apparently too brief.
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Not bad. Took 'em only twelve years to match Baen.
They managed the Kessel Run in only twelve years.
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Re: Not bad. Took 'em only twelve years to match Baen.
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DRM doesn't prevent theft
TL;DR Get with the times entertainment industry.
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lol
From the Tor point of view, it's more like: Who cares about piracy as long as the paying customers are paying us.
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Now if they would not price fix...
Kindle Edition $11.99
Hardcover - New $14.95 -- New $13.45 -- Used $7.80
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How about a low-tech replacement to DRM
This also does away with the whole need for the author/provider to maintain a DRM verification server.
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How about a low-tech replacement to DRM
This also does away with the whole need for the author/provider to maintain a DRM verification server.
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Re: How about a low-tech replacement to DRM
Like so many forms of DRM, it may work to catch the particularly clueless or deter the particularly paranoid, but it won't stop piracy. It may even lose sales - after all, who wants to buy something that can get you sued if you ever lose it?
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http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2012/04/more-on-drm-and-ebooks.html#more
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Inside the back cover was a CD with all of her previous Vorkosigan novels, plus a few nice extras. I could feel the love from Baen, who wanted her fans to stay loyal (and maybe pass along a little of that loyalty to them). I was able to upload them to my iPad, re-read the novel prior to "Cryoburn," revisit a few favorites and pass the CD along to a friend, a new potential customer. It INCREASED the value of the hardbound, and who knows how many readers Baen and Ms. Bujold will gain?
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What DRM-free Tor store?
Also, there's no indication that Tor ebooks sold on Amazon, iBooks, etc. will be DRM-free, is there? Or that their ebook prices will even be cheaper than used book prices on Amazon...
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